http://surf-ici.com/chaingang

Due to recent circumstances and changes in my life, I can no longer be president or have other type of responsibility for the Prescott Chain Gang.  So, I officially quit all involvement and responsibility in the club.  I will keep the website up and make changes if the exact text and instructions are e-mailed to me.  Because some of the scheduled rides keep changing and I am unable to keep up with these changes I have completely removed the ride schedule from the site and will no longer be distributing them to the bike shops.  If you have a printed schedule some of the rides will be different because of changes and should be considered incorrect.

This will be my last official Chain Mail Newsletter.  You may hear from me on a personal level a couple of times in the next few months but not for any official club business.

I truly hope that someone decides to take over.  This club should not die due to apathy.  If someone decides to take over and wants to learn how to maintain the web site I will be more than happy to teach them how and provide materials for doing this. Tim Travis

Because I am resigning from everything these days The Collation of Arizona Bicyclist (CazB) is in need of a new representative for the Prescott area immediately.  This is an important organization that works for improving cycling conditions at the state level.   They are most noticeable in this are with matters that concern ADOT.  The position of local representative does not require much work except to keep up on the local situation and report this information to the main body in the valley.  If this position goes unfilled there is a danger that the needs of local cyclist will be overlooked on matters that are decided from the state government.   Tim Travis

Tim & Cindie (informal, but that's all I have to go on!)

The AZ Civil Air Patrol (Statewide) is sponsoring a "Ride Against Drugs" in the Granite Basin Area on 22 Sept and 23 Sept.

The actual "Ride" is Sunday, 23 Sept. at 7:30 AM.

It is open to anyone to participate. Saturday the CAP and any others will have a campout with a Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) program presented by the AZ National Guard.

Registration fee of $25 includes Dinner Saturday Night, Breakfast Sunday AM, DDR "T" shirt. Balance for AZ CAP DDR programs.

Sounds like a fun day/weekend, especially for those who want to support Drug Demand Reduction!

Please call or e-mail me for further info. Thank you for your interest.

LTC Fred W. Boughton, Jr. CAP 2104 Howard Place Prescott, AZ 86301-5339 Ph: 928-445-5326 E-Mail: kb2ctno smamnorthlink.com

I came up this weekend from the valley to visit my parents and rode the skull valley loop with some of the locals. 3 of us I think. How much total climbing is in there? We went out 89 and then up iron springs. More hills than I am used to? On that 13 mile climb up iron springs, what is the elevation gain? What do you think the total is for the entire ride?

Robert Nickerson ATMO-ePD  robert.m.nickersonno smamintel.com

Tim I just found your web site today. I am a weekend resident of Iron Springs, up from the Phoenix area. As a beginning mountain biker, I am looking for trails to ride near my weekend home. I was pleased to see that the Wednesday (nee Thursday rides) include the Alto area, just outside our back gate, but sad that I couldn't join them mid-week. I'd be game if any of those riders want to do a 2-4 hour ride on the weekends.

Good work on the lobbying for improved riding conditions in and around Prescott. Thank you for the unpaid effort.

Sincerely, Scott H. O'Connor Pinnacle Diversified, LLC soconnorno smampd-llc.com (602) 852-3452

Tim and Cindi Travis,

Hello, my name is Don Hamilton and my wife and I are planning on doing a two week bike camping trip in Arizona in the later part of September / first part of October. We will be flying into Phoenix and doing loop from there. I got your names and email addresses from the GABA web site.

I wanted to know if you know of any good sources for route planning? We are thinking of riding to areas such as Tonto National Forest (maybe through Payson), up to the Grand Canyon (we have done extensive backpacking in the canyon), maybe Wupatki and Sunset monuments, Oak Creek Canyon, and maybe Prescott. I do have an Arizona road map and expect it is accurate regarding paved vrs gravel/dirt roads.

If you have any favorite roads that you ride on that we would enjoy I would like to hear about them.

One of my concerns is frequency of food and water sources. Sometimes towns on maps can be nothing more than a few houses. I wondered if you have any opinions on areas that might be thin on availability of food and water.

We picked the last week of September / first week of October hoping to avoid the real high temps in the desert but also to avoid major coldness in the high country ( mountains NE of Phoenix, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon).

Any pointers or suggestions including other sources of information would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Don and Phyllis Hamilton Dublin, Ohio

Dhamiltonno smamCOpper.net

Prescott Bicycle Advisory Committee Aug. 1, 2001, meeting minutes:

The Prescott Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC), a committee of the City Council, works with city staff, transportation officials and the community to develop bicycle transportation facilities to help minimize congestion and noise, keep our air clean and reduce motor vehicle miles traveled through policy-making and education. The committee normally meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the basement of City Hall, 201 S. Cortez St. We welcome guests, and encourage the fresh ideas and energy of new "team" members.

Attending: Cindie Travis, Marcee Keller, Derek Brownlee, Debbie Cotton, Steve Becker, J.J. McCormack, Jack McCormack, Paul Clemens, Tim Coons, Doug McMillan, Ben Scott

Introduction of guest: Jack McCormack, a new Prescott resident and bicyclist from the Valley.

Nomination of new member: Tim Coons. Committee voted Tim into membership. A longtime Prescott resident and bicycle advocate who works for Arizona Public Service Corp., Tim has Yavapai County and education contacts and interests. Welcome Tim!

Road project update: Dale Wachs, Prescott Senior Civil Engineer, was not present

CYTPO update: PBAC member and CYTPO liaison Derek Brownlee reported on a July 26 meeting. He said the discussion focused on the forthcoming MPO (metropolitan planning organization) designation and organization as well as reports from the various jurisdictions. J.J. McCormack, Prescott communications director, reported that ADOT has redesigned the 69/89 interchange and is hosting a public hearing about the redesign from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Aug. 30 at Washington School. The committee will attempt to get a map of the redesign and share it and information about it with PBAC members and friends before the hearing.

Bike plan update: J.J. reported that Prescott Planning Manager Julie Pindzola plans to complete a scope of work by Friday, Aug. 3. The scope will be sent in contract form to prospective consultant Betty Drake of Scottsdale. Julie has talked to Betty at length about finishing Prescott's plan. Members of PBAC and the Bike Planning Committee met with Julie on July 25 to review what had been done to date on the plan and what work remained -- what was missing and what needed to be added. PBAC members received a summary of the meeting discussion. PBAC members agreed that an education and safety element needed to be included in the plan. PBAC member Debbie Cotton shared with the group some work she had done on the education and safety element and that she had previously shared with former city planner and bike plan author Tiffany Rich. Debbie's work was given to Julie for inclusion in the plan. Doug McMillan said it was important that the city's bike plan be incorporated in the city's Capital Improvement Program and private development/subdivision regulations. J.J. said the city was planning to develop a CIP this fiscal year and was also currently working on a zoning code rewrite that will incorporate subdivision regulations. PBAC members agreed it was important that a bike plan be adopted before the city's CIP is finalized. As far as a timeline for completing the plan, J.J. said the consultant would be asked to try to work toward Council review in November (before the current Council leaves office). However, Julie said the consultant had to be given some latitude depending on her schedule and workload. The committee also expressed interest in having the consultant, once hired, present the ridership survey results to the City Council and share with Council where we are in the bike planning process. (The gist of PBAC discussion on Aug. 1 about the bike plan were shared with Julie and city staff/PBAC members Steven Gaber, Eric Smith and Dale Wachs the following day.)

Other business:

· Marcee Keller, PBAC chair, reminded PBAC members about a city council and mayor candidate forum on Aug. 2 at Yavapai College.

· Committee members related information/news gleaned from the transportation open house that an ADOT commission hosted in Prescott July 26. Derek said he found an open-house questionnaire irrelevant to his needs/desires as a bicyclist. Derek said the open house featured displays and that attendees were asked for input about priority road projects.

· It was announced that ADOT is hosting an Airport Connector grand opening on Sept. 8 and that the PBAC is invited to staff a booth during the opening. PBAC is considering staffing a booth. A question arose about bicycle access on 89A. Derek said it was likely to remain open to accommodate future residential development as delineated in the Airport Area Specific Plan the Prescott City Council recently adopted.

· Marcee reported that Yavapai College Campus Police approached her about doing a bicycle registration program. She will coordinate this and other bicycle outreach projects with them, keeping in mind and communicating with existing City programs and resources.

· The committee recruited Doug McMillan to put his name in the hat for the Prescott General Plan update committee.

· Marcee recognized the valuable advocacy work that the Chain Gang has performed and appealed for volunteers to help the Chain Gang remain the important information conduit and riding fraternity that it is. She said President Tim Travis may be stepping down soon as president. Interested individuals were invited to assist Tim and Cindie Travis with the dissemination of questionnaires to Prescott City Council and Mayoral candidates.

· The PBAC will begin to provide meeting notices regularly to the Daily Courier.

· Next meeting of the PBAC is 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, in the basement of Prescott City Hall. Bring donations for a benefit ride Tim Coons is doing this Fall.

We invite the public to our meetings held the first Wednesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. in the basement of City Hall. Please contact us via email or call for more information. We welcome your input.

Tim Travis - President - Chain Gang Cycling Club

Chain Gang Web Site= http://surf-ici.com/chaingang/index.htm